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Meat of the order giving Dawgs big bite

There looks to be plenty of meat on this bone.

There looks to be plenty of meat on this bone.

Adding to an embarrassment of riches in the middle of the Okotoks Dawgs lineup is one the hottest bats in the league in hard-hitting lefty Zach Hanna joining the ranks of towering first-baseman Kody Funderburk, hometown virtuoso Matt Lloyd and reigning player of the week Jayse McLean.

“If everybody is healthy you can play guys wherever you want,” said Dawgs coach Dave Robb. “It’s nice that we can rotate those guys a little bit. They can DH, they’re not getting too many days off, but they’re okay with that because the DH is kind of like a day off.

“That middle of the lineup…Hanna is just crushing it and you’ve got to keep that core in there.”

There’s no reason to mess with a good thing.

Okotoks ranks fourth in the Western Major Baseball League with 127 runs in 19 games.

Hanna, headed to the University of Alabama in the fall, has been rolling the tide at the plate since stepping into Okotoks’ lineup.

The Shawnee product might not be in Kansas anymore, but he looks comfortable in Big Rock Country.

Hanna is riding a seven-game hit streak while leading the Dawgs with 21 hits while posting a .362 average.

“It’s just rolling with the guys,” Hanna said. “Baseball is a momentum sport so once one guy breaks it open, then everyone comes along and rides on the train.”

The Dawgs secured a first in game 19 on Sunday night.

Okotoks picked up its first shutout of the season by a 3-0 count in the back-end of a double-header with the Lethbridge Bulls on Sunday evening.

Chris Horvath pitched six-plus scoreless innings. Tyler Burdett came in relief and got out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh and shut the Bulls out from there over 2 and 2/3 on the bump.

“Horvath pitched great. That was lights out,” Robb said. “That seventh inning we get the double play and then go out and score some runs.”

The Dawgs opened the scoring in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Aderly Perez followed by an RBI double through outfielder Darius Foster.

Hanna added some insurance in the eighth with a sharp double down the left field line, scoring Funderburk.

Lethbridge took the matinee by a 6-5 count. The Bulls were also victorious at home on Saturday by a 7-5 score.

The teams meet three more times this week as they continue to battle it out for top spot in the West where the Bulls own a half-game lead in first.

“In summer ball it’s always open. Anyone can jump up and take it,” Hanna said. “It’s just all of us playing the game the way we know how to and getting it done.”

We’ve reached scoreboard watching season in the Western Major Baseball League.

“We look at that all the time,” Robb said. “We’re not even at halfway, but we still like to look. We know what’s going on there.

“It’s more a matter of making the playoffs and making sure we’re in the mix. If you win 60 per cent of your games your going to be in the playoffs for sure. This conference is pretty even and there are four or five teams that are pretty good.”

Okotoks is home to the Brooks Bombers on June 28 and the Bulls on June 30. Okotoks’ Canada Day game and fireworks extravaganza is July 1 at 7:05 p.m. versus the defending champion Swift Current 57s.

For more information go to dawgsbaseball.ca


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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